Is Your Facility Prepared for an OSHA Safety Audit?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the government agency that helps facilitate safety at all workplaces across the nation. One of the most effective ways for OSHA to ensure that facilities throughout several industries remain safe is through conducted audits.
Facilities like the locations that TAS Environmental Services helps are notorious for being hazardous environments that require perfection when it comes to safety measures. Audits are a necessity for continuous safety, so it’s always best that your company is prepared for an OSHA visit.
What is an OSHA Safety Audit?
While many associate audits with inevitable fines, the truth is that not every inspection from OSHA comes with a cost. An audit can actually be an extremely productive process that can help owners determine where safety measures can be vastly improved.
OSHA safety audits help uncover potential hazards in the workplace and allow facility managers to implement effective solutions before a risk turns into an unfortunate incident. Even if a company incurs penalties, they will still be less costly than a lawsuit, lost productivity, or the severe injury of a valued employee.
Types of OSHA Audits
There are 3 different types of OSHA audits that a facility needs to be aware of:
Compliance Audits: These are the official reviews conducted by a licensed OSHA representative. These audits typically review a company’s safety standards, training capabilities, etc.- Management System Audits: These audits review a business’ compliance with OSHA requirements and involves shadowing throughout employee workdays and interviewing/evaluating employees.
- Program Audits: This audit process checks the safety effectiveness and points out areas where improvements are necessary.
How to Prepare for an OSHA Safety Audit
Whether your audit was planned or is the result of an on-site incident, it’s always important that your site is prepared to make the process as smooth as possible for everyone involved.
Have Past Information On-Hand
Your auditor is going to need to review all past inspections, inspection results, how you addressed hazards, and any reported injuries on the site since your last inspection.
Save your auditor the detective work and prepare all necessary documents and evidence prior to your inspection date. This ensures an accurate audit that keeps your company focused on the issues that matter most.
Always Ask for Inspector Credentials
While it may seem odd to have to ask your OSHA inspector for credentials, an audit reveals extremely sensitive information about your company’s safety practices, environmental-friendliness, and the well-being of its employees.
Before revealing such detailed information to any auditor, always ask for their credentials and serial number for your own auditing records.
Set Your Day Aside for the Inspection
Regardless of the type of audit your facility faces, make sure that your employees are in the know and that your entire location is ready to spend the day going through the audit.
Interviewing employees, reviewing safety measures, and auditing best practices when hazardous exposure occurs takes time. So, be prepared to set the day aside for a thorough review of your company.
How can TAS Environmental Services Keep You in Compliance?
Although TAS Environmental Services specializes in helping your company reduce its environmental footprint, a huge part of that is the implementation of best practices when handling or disposing of hazardous materials.
Our in-plant services and the ractionary plans we can help implement within your company directly impacts how well your safety measures impact the workplace.
From proper waste handling, to site decontamination remediation, we prevent unnecessary disruptions that could lead to an unfortunate OSHA violation.
Pass Any OSHA Inspection or Audit With TAS Environmental Service
If your petrochemical or industrial facility recently had an OSHA audit that resulted in some safety penalties, let TAS Environmental Services help you regain your focus. We are waste management experts that can help you keep your facility clear of risk and implement safe practices that mitigate injury inducing hazards.
Contact us today to learn more about our services and to schedule an on-site consultation from a member of our team.